Chapter 63: The Chef and the Samurai
At this moment, on the grassy archery field, the blonde girl in a baseball cap held a bow in one hand and raised the other to point directly at the boy in the adjacent lane.
With a proud expression, Erina Nakiri declared,
"If I win, you'll accompany me for a top-level cooking duel!"
"Eh? So you're saying you want to cook together with me?" Shirou asked in confusion.
If it was such a simple favor, she could've just asked directly. Komachi's new friend really was a shy girl.
The way she stormed over with such intensity, Shirou had thought she was here to assassinate him or something. Though by now, he should count as an Archer, after all.
"Wrong! It's a duel—a duel, you hear?!"
Erina's face flushed red with frustration as she corrected him in a high-pitched voice.
She, Erina-sama, had personally come to issue this challenge, and he was still being so slow and indecisive?
What was wrong with this man?!
"No matter if it's archery or cooking," Shirou said, lifting his bow, "I really don't think I could lose."
Like the girl, he didn't use any aiming sights or stabilizers—he trusted in his instincts and sharp eyesight.
Swish! Swish!
All six arrows hit the bullseye—perfectly arranged to form a tight, symmetrical circle.
Throughout history, there have been many extraordinary individuals.
Skills such as martial arts, perception, magecraft, and weapon forging—when refined to their limit—can transcend human boundaries.
An EX-ranked Clairvoyance can see the past, present, and future.
An EX-ranked Charisma or Manipulation approaches the level of brainwashing, hypnosis, and mental domination.
An EX-ranked Presence Concealment can render someone indistinguishable from the world itself—only becoming tangible at the moment of attack, like the Shadow Lantern from Fate/strange fake.
So, what happens when a human pushes the art of archery to its absolute limits?
Ancient records of divine archers suggest an almost superhuman level of skill—shattering the boundaries of the human eye.
Take, for example, the legendary archer Yang Youji, said to be able to shoot through a willow leaf at a hundred paces—hence the idiom "pierce a willow leaf at a hundred paces".
It was said that within a massive army, he could take down the enemy commander with a single arrow.
Because of this, he was nicknamed "Yang One-Arrow."
According to ancient measures, one "pace" was the distance covered by both feet—roughly over a meter.
So hitting a specific leaf marked on a poplar tree from over 100 meters away, with pinpoint accuracy every time? That's already beyond modern precision.
And later, he even reached the realm of the "Shot Without Shooting."
Without notching an arrow, he merely drew the bowstring—and upon releasing it, the white ape atop the mountain would fall with a thud.
In some world, perhaps such a person exists—one who, after letting go of all attachments, hones their mind and spirit in solitude until they reach the EX-ranked Divine Realm of Archery.
Of course, Shirou wasn't at that level yet.
And neither was the girl.
Divine spirit possession is when a deity temporarily inhabits a suitable human vessel—weakening its powers in the process.
The Servant Possession System works similarly. It's a limited embodiment of a Heroic Spirit's essence.
Until full compatibility is reached, the Servant's powers are restricted—even in this warped world altered by blackened Heroic Spirits.
"If it's a duel you want, I'm in. But if you lose… you'll explain what's going on with the Heroic Spirit inside you, okay?"
Shirou looked straight at the proud blonde young lady.
"Heh, so you're not normal either, huh?" Erina replied with a faint smile.
A genius like her naturally believed she was blessed by the heavens.
So even when her body began exhibiting phenomena beyond common sense, she didn't find it particularly strange.
The Heroic Spirit inside her was accidentally summoned—when she was simultaneously reading a romance manga and casually playing FGO.
The manga was a historical series about the Genpei War, focusing on the tragic love story between Kiso Yoshinaka (also known as Minamoto no Yoshinaka) and his beloved concubine Tomoe Gozen.
Yoshinaka, born of the Kawachi Genji lineage, hadn't yet turned thirty when he earned a streak of battlefield victories and rescued the Retired Emperor of Japan.
He was named General of the Morning Sun and controlled the most powerful military force in the nation—outshining his cousins Yoritomo and Yoshitsune.
But due to arrogance and political naivety, he soon fell out of favor. After one major defeat, his stronghold was lost, and he was forced to flee.
When he escaped the city, he had only five retainers left by his side.
Among them was his childhood sweetheart and lover—Tomoe Gozen.
"Let's go home together. Back to the countryside where we grew up."
She pleaded with him, dreaming of returning to a peaceful village life.
She had fought in battles only because the one she loved had asked it of her. At heart, she was just a woman who wanted her family to live safely and quietly.
But that was now impossible.
Seeing her soaked in blood, Yoshinaka couldn't bear the thought of her dying alongside him.
"A man dying with a woman by his side—wouldn't that be a disgrace? Do you want me to die without dignity?"
"Then… let me fight once more for you!"
Suppressing her sorrow, Tomoe Gozen mounted her horse and, during their retreat, captured the enemy general charging toward them.
With a single strike, she cut off his head and galloped away into the distance.
After that, rumors about her varied. But no one ever saw her again.
Erina had cried reading that manga.
And just as she hit the summon button in FGO with a single summon ticket, the Heroic Spirit of a white-haired, female samurai appeared.
With a faint air of melancholy, she entered this world.
She rejected the temptations of a certain girl very good at games, and answered instead to Erina, who was extremely talented at cooking.
She vowed to train by her side—not in combat, but in bridehood.
In life, Tomoe Gozen had been great at cutting off heads—but not so great at cooking. If she ever got to meet Heroic Spirit Yoshinaka again, she hoped to live a peaceful, domestic life with him.
Thus, a symbiotic relationship formed between Erina Nakiri and Tomoe Gozen.
Erina let Tomoe possess her body to learn cooking.
In return, Tomoe lent Erina her power whenever she needed it—especially now, as Erina was preparing to challenge the rival of her life.
When Erina followed Komachi to the compound bow competition and saw the boy shooting in the recurve event earlier—
That stance, upright and full of force, where man and bow merged into one, unleashing an arrow like a meteor streaking across a still sky— It was art.
That blend of stillness and movement… it was a form that could only emerge when someone poured their whole heart into a single pursuit.
Erina had seen that only once before—when watching the chef she admired most cooking in the kitchen. It was the same purity, power, elegance, and brilliance.
She refused to admit it, but she'd been standing there completely captivated—eyes wide, heart pounding.
When she heard he would also be competing in the compound bow event—and that anyone could join—
She rushed to the merchandise tent, swiped her credit card, and bought the most powerful bow in stock.
As long as it was a bow, Tomoe Gozen could use it. She would lend her power.
Erina would challenge this boy.
And once she defeated him, she'd drag him into a cooking battle.
No matter what—it was a chance she couldn't miss.